Learning Frameworks: Theory to Practice.

Learning Frameworks:
Theory to Practice.
Peter Crabbe, Chief Program Officer, Kidspace Children's Museum,
[email protected]
Peter Olson, Executive Director, Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota,
[email protected]
Suzy Letourneau, Research and Evaluation Specialist, Providence Children’s Museum,
[email protected]
Robin Meisner, Director of Exhibits, Providence Children’s Museum,
[email protected]
Interactivity 2016
Why Frameworks?
Peter Crabbe Ed.D.
Chief Program Officer
Kidspace Children’s Museum
Interactivity 2016
Structure, Clarity, and
Creativity
Diversity and Organic Change
Establishing an Organization’s
Uniqueness AND Place in the Greater
Landscape
Flow: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
• Signs of Being in a State of “Flow”
• (1) You lose awareness of time
• (2) You aren’t thinking about yourself
• (3) You aren’t interrupted by extraneous thoughts
• (4) You are active
• (5) You work effortlessly
Frameworks Shouldn’t Feel Like This!
Scaffolding
and Supporting
Frameworks: Scale
Frameworks for Filtering
Frameworks Help to Focus Growth
Practical Tools
Tracking Progress
When Things Don’t Go as Planned.
When Things look Good on the Surface but
Don’t Match Up.
What are we at Kidspace
Thinking About?
• Kidspace Experience Development Framework
a.
Desired Results/Outcomes
• Understandings and Big Ideas
b.
c.
Evidence of Outcomes
Experience Plan
• Big Ideas
•
•
•
•
Refers to core concepts, principles, and theories….
Organizes large bodies of factual information into categories
Transfers to new fields of study and new situations
Is abstract, requiring investigation to probe its implications
•
•
http://www.nhcs.net/instruction/citw%20year%20I%20links/Big_Ideas_and_Essential_Questions_in_Curriculum.pdf
Wiggins, G.; & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Learning Frameworks
ACM InterActivity 2016
Permanent Facility Opened May 1, 2015
After ten years of planning, opening weekend was celebrated by more than 3,000 visitors
One of the Busiest Museums in Greater MN
• 100,000 visits in first 12 months
• Nearly 2,800 member families
• More than 10% of visits are free or reduced admissions
Depth and Reach
• Visitors arriving from:
• 31 US States
• 64 Minnesota Counties
• 53,000: Mankato, North
Mankato Population
Grow Sustainably
Critical Planning Documents
• Environmental Scan
• Feasibility Study
• Learning Experience Master Plan
• Including Learning Framework
• Business Plan
• Strategic Plan
Learning Experience Master Plan
• Learning Framework
Components
• Exhibit Experience Approach
• Gallery Concepts
Developmental Roadmap
Research
and
Preparatio
n
Activities
Outreach tour
Traveling exhibits
Planning Team
discussions
Museum tours
Outcome
Shared information
about activities
and experiences
that are engaging
to CMSM visitors
and compatible
with CMSM and
the community.
New
Exhibits
Play Lab
Activities and
Steps: Building
CMSM’s Learning
Framework
Activities and
Steps: Completing
CMSM’s Learning
Framework
Gather, distill, and
prioritize information
and ideas.
Identify broad questions
about audience,
learning, and
experience to answer
through Play Lab.
Identify promising Play
Lab activities to answer
questions.
Gather information
(through observations,
interactive surveys,
etc.) from Play Lab to
answer questions.
Assess and interpret results
of Play Lab observations
and surveys.
Articulate Learning
Approach for all museum
experiences.
Complete Learner Profile
Identify Focus Areas.
Compose Learning
Experience Goals for
exhibits, programs and
outreach
Characterize experiential
spirit & style.
Outcome
CMSM Learning Framework
that consolidates its
learning interests across
all its offerings.
Promising ideas about
audience, learning,
and experience to test
with visitors to Play
Lab.
Outcome
Exhibit Planning
and Production
Steps
Exhibit Experience
Approach
Concept Development
Preliminary Plan &
Design
Final Plan & Design
Bid/negotiation
Fabrication &
Installation
Remediation
Outcome
Interactive exhibits
aligned with the
museum’s mission,
vision and values that
meet high
expectations for
engagement, safety,
and durability.
Universally Shared Vocabulary
Terms and Definitions
A Learning Framework is a strong set of foundational ideas consistent with a museum’s driving principles such as its mission, vision, and values. A
Framework translates these ideas into a platform to guide planning and evaluation of all learning experiences including exhibits, programs, interpretation,
etc. It focuses, sets priorities, creates emphasis and defines key relationships for concentrating the museum’s learning interests on exemplary learning
experiences.
Typical elements of a Learning Framework:

Learning Purpose defines a museum’s broad learning aspirations.

Learning Principles emerge from the Learning Purpose and address the basic conditions that support learning, particularly in informal learning
settings. They are grounded in child development, learning theory, and research.

Learner Profile summarizes important information about segments within the entire audience, based on significant characteristics (such as age) that
must be addressed to make progress towards the Learning Purpose.

Cornerstones help define the territory from which a museum will draw topics and subjects to explore in its exhibits and programs. They reflect an
organization’s mission and Learning Purpose and designate how it intends to distinguish itself from other organizations serving the same audience,
produce significant learning value for the community, and build internal capacity.

Impacts highlight where a museum hopes to make positive contributions to the lives of the children and adults it serves and to the community.

Learning Experience Goals define what an organization hopes to accomplish through its primary learning experiences.

Spirit and Style express the personality of exhibit and program experiences and is consistent with the Learning Purpose and Learning Focus.
An Exhibit Experience Approach highlights the nature of the experience that is central to the rich set of exhibit experiences a museum will create for
children, their parents, caregivers, grandparents, and teachers.



Experience Builders are important experiences that all children in a museums age range, regardless of background, should enjoy regularly with family,
friends, and peers.
Play Conditions are factors in the physical and social environment a museum can vary to enable, encourage, and extend children’s play and
exploration.
Experience Thread is an overarching image or concept that often imperceptibly unifies and brings coherence to a wide range of activities and
experiences across multiple exhibits or galleries.
Gallery Typology
A small area or activity
appropriate
for
very
young children
A place to read,
share or discover
stories
Tod
Pods
Story
Threads
Local,
Found &
Natural
Community
Made
Objects and materials
that are old, found,
natural and locally
meaningful
Parents
@ Play
Evidence of community
input and contributions
Props, opportunities, and
messages for parents to
engage in play
Play = Possibilities
Connect galleries with different interpretations of this thread.
Thorough Audience Description
A Shared Understanding of Learning
A Shared Understanding of Learning
Learning Framework Today
• Aligning Learning Framework
engagement with:
• Strategic Plan
implementation
• Values development
• Professional
development
• Play work training
• Play observations
Asking the Questions:
• How can we be more
valuable to the learning
community?
• What is the community’s
view of learning at the
Museum?
• Do we ALL have a shared
understanding of
learning?
• How does our Learning
Framework aid our
mission and vision?
Learning Frameworks
ACM InterActivity 2016
Providence Children’s Museum
Learning Frameworks
Robin Meisner & Suzy Letourneau
The mission of Providence Children's Museum is to inspire
and celebrate learning through active play and exploration.
serving children ages 1 to 11 and their adult caregivers
Audience
• 161,068 visitors in 2015
• 30% welcomed free of charge
• 24% of visits by 2,124 member families
• Most (90%) visit in family groups
• Children’s ages: 1 or 2 (31%), 3 or 4 (30%),
5 to 8 (30%), 9 and up (7%)
• Average age of child: 4.3 years
Providence Children’s Museum · ACM: Stamford, CT · May 5, 2016
Re-examining Learning Frameworks
1977
Children’s Museum opens in Pawtucket, RI
1978/79
Staff defines learning philosophy – children learn
through play
1997
Relocates to downtown Providence, tripling size;
learning philosophy updated
2008
Play Power exhibit opens; play advocacy begins
2013
Research – how do children learn through play?
2014 – Present
Learning frameworks updated to clearly define beliefs
about play and its connection to learning
Providence Children’s Museum · ACM: Stamford, CT · May 5, 2016
Why Re-Examining the Learning Frameworks?
The need
• To update and further develop existing Educational Philosophy
• To clearly articulate our shared beliefs about play and learning, and what
evidence supports these views
Goals
• Build a sense of ownership of the philosophy among staff
• Develop a shared language about play and learning to inform our practices and
communicate more clearly with visitors
• Understand what the Museum can provide to support both play and learning,
improving the visitor experience
The messy process of thinking together
updating the learning frameworks
Providence Children’s Museum · ACM: Stamford, CT · May 5, 2016
Many, many drafts...
Learning Frameworks (in brief)
Learning is…
•
•
•
•
•
•
Experiential: based on personal, active and multisensory experiences
Dynamic: building on itself and changing over time and across development
Physical: Involving physical actions and experiences
Social: Shaped by interactions with others
Emotional: Shaped by feelings, motivations, and interests
Cultural: Shaped by cultural contexts and values
All of these aspects of learning are interrelated and impact one another.
Connections between exploration, play and learning
Play: Freely-chosen, personally-directed, intrinsically motivated and involves active
engagement
Exploration: Intentionally gathering information about the world using all the senses
The Museum recognizes the connections between exploration, play and
learning, and acknowledges that playing and learning are processes that
share many characteristics.
By providing an environment that is supportive of children’s play and
exploration, the Museum also supports children’s learning.
What the Museum provides to support exploration, play and learning
Three integral parts of Museum experiences
Exhibits and environments • Programs, including those offsite • Facilitation
Defining features of Museum experiences
Each experience does not necessarily address every feature
listed here, but as whole, experiences across the Museum
consider and incorporate the following characteristics.
• Child-centered
• Choice
• Active
• Challenge
• Sensory
• Social support
• Tangible
• Time and space
• Familiar & unexpected
• Aesthetics
• Developmentally
meaningful
• Making learning visible
• Thoughtful & respectful
Outcomes for learners at the Museum (in progress)
As a result of their experiences, Museum learners...
• Play, explore and learn in many different ways.
• Are inspired, engaged and motivated – by the environment, by others and by pursuing
their own ideas and interests.
• Express their creativity and individuality.
• Make connections – building on prior knowledge and experiences.
• Think of themselves as learners – reflecting on their ideas and perceiving themselves as
active and capable learners.
• Feel respected, safe and comfortable.
• Are respectful – of themselves, other people and the world around them.
Next Steps: Using the Frameworks
• Continuing to clarify the Outcomes for Learners
• Sharing drafts internally for feedback, working toward a common language among
staff
• Developing training and assessment tools for frontline staff
• Developing assessment tools for programs
• Conducting Museum-wide exhibit assessment and future planning
• Developing messaging for adults about children’s play and learning